Funeral in Deling
by laocadia
Summary: how to get Rinoa in to see her dad when the town is surrounded by the galbadian army


FUNERAL IN DELING...by Laocadia

Rinoa Heartlilly, a very young dark haired girl, was sitting alone in the cafeteria, a hot cup of tea in front of her. Outside the windows were black, it was early morning, and Rinoa was having a hard time waking up. The tables around her were empty, in fact, the cafeteria workers were only beginning to arrive. Squall, last thing he said was get up early, there was a lot to cover. Squall. Now there was an image to savour. She blew on the tea and cautiously took a sip. Strong, stubborn, quiet, much too serious. But oh so goodlooking. A very young student entered the room, looked around and went over to Rinoa. He handed her an envelope. 

"You are Rinoa Heartlilly?"

"Yes." She took the cream colored envelope and tore the paper open. The student left, Rinoa noted, therefore no reply was expected. Could this be from their team leader, Squall, Rinoa smiled. She unfolded the paper and looked at it.

Rinoa, this is Xu. I intercepted this message a few minutes ago from the Galbadian Military Headquarters: ALL COMMAND CENTERS, GENERAL GEORGE CARRAWAY, SUPREME COMMANDER OF ALL GALBADIAN FORCES SUCCUMED THIS MORNING TO A HEART ATTACK, DELING DISTRICT HOSPITAL. ALL UNITS IN GALBADIA ARE TO BE PUT ON ALERT STATUS IMMEDIATELY, CANCEL EXISTING LEAVES AND NOTIFY COMMANDING OFFICERS THAT A MILITARY FUNERAL WITH HONORS WILL TAKE PLACE THIS EVENING AT THE PRESIDENTIAL PALACE, DELING AT 2000 HOURS. Signed, Lt. Commander Wolsley.

I'm sorry to be notifying you this way Rinoa but you needed to know immediately, right? Please let me know how I can help, ok?

She released the paper and Rinoa became aware suddenly of many things at once: the windows were beginning to lighten to a light gray—why did that matter? Smells of coffee freshly made and bread toasting and eggs sizzling on hot stoves and buzzing from somewhere, bleeping and bells pinged as Squall walked through the arch and over to her table. He looked at her preoccupied expression pulling the chair out. "Good morning", he said tentatively.

Yesterday, Quistis, his ex-instructress pulled him aside with more of her infinite and unsought advice. "You've been rescuing that girl since the day you met her, even diving into space with only a prayer to save either of you. Yet when you're around her you treat her like a business associate. Can't you be friendlier? Hold her hand once in a while, touch her shoulder when you walk past her, bend your head toward her when you talk to her, look at her more often...geesh, how are you two ever going to get close?"

"I'm going for coffee, can i bring you back a roll or something?" He put his right hand over hers and looked at her giving her time to reply. Before he knew what was happening Rinoa's eyes welled up with tears, spilling down her cheeks.

"I never said..." her voice broke and she choked on a sob, "how sorry I was for all those times...how I acted so stupidly and unthinking..." she stared at him her expression stricken.

"Who...?" was she referring to? It was all his fault, he was sure of it, for not being more supportive, more understanding...how SHE acted? What was she talking about?

"And now it's too late!" She stood up so suddenly, the chair rocked. Then she ran out of the room, just missing an attractive blonde ex-instructress.

Quistis turned to look at her then quickly went to where Squall was sitting. "What just happened? 

Squall, the team leader looked at a loss. "I asked her if she wanted me to get her a roll to go with her tea and ...just a minute, she was looking at this." He turned the paper around, then as he read he edged it closer. He flicked the note over to Quistis and hurriedly left the cafeteria. In the corrider he saw Zell dragging his feet. 

"She's headed toward the training center man, crying her eyes out. You really did a number on her this time. Zell turned to watch Squall take off.

Squall didn't slow down for the left turn in the hallway but raced on into the training center's corrider. Her father dead! She had no one to turn to, no sisters, mother, relatives hardly even close friends around this place. Only him. She only chose to hang around him.. It was now up to him to help her somehow. Was she trying to hurt herself? Was that why she came here? He saw a slight figure in blue crumpled against the far wall by the entrance door. She had her hands over her face sobbing. He stood before her trying to think what to do. His heart stopped racing now that he found her and she was ok. But what should he do?

Meanwhile, Zell and Quistis finished reading the note.   
"She shouldn't have found out this way. Xu should have hand delivered this at the very least. Imagine poor Rinoa reading this note all alone..." Quistis threw the paper down. "I just don't believe it."

Zell finished Rinoa's cup of tea and put the cup down. "Could have been worse. Squall could have been the one to break it to her. Can you hear him now..."

"Enough! Do you have any ideas where they are ?"

"Training center. I..."

"This takes priority over everything!" She looked at the blond guy in front of her with the black tatoo down the side of his face. "Find Selphie and Irving!"

"What makes you think I know...."

"Clue them in! You're going to need to use the Ragnarok. Some errands to do. I have to get this 'floating' garden out of FH and headed toward Deling. So, go find Irv and Selph, ok?"

"You got it!" He slid off his chair and started out, changed his mind, ran towards the food, grabbed a muffin and then headed for the door in full run.

Quistis watched him go, shaking her head at him. This evening at nine o'clock. They would just make it. Just time enough for this ship to reach Deling. Just time enough to prepare everyone.

  
Squall slid down the wall to the floor of the training center. He sat next to Rinoa without looking at her. She was sobbing out of control He should say something. What do you say when you've just had news like that. "I remember just a few weeks ago playing cards with him. It took forever but I finally won your face card She seemed to be getting quieter so he continued on.

"Remember when we were here in Deling fighting Sorceress Edea? You didn't act chummy with your father, did you? Why was that?"

Tears streaked across her red face. She put her hands down and glared at Squall. What kind of an animal species was he, she wondered. . This 'being' she once thought was comforting and compassionate. He didn't look like the best looking guy she'd ever seen. Her face felt hot and her eyes ached..

She hiccuped. "I always always thought I'd have time...to have a long chat with him...to ask him why he did the things he did, the decisions he made to make things right with him. I'll never know now!"

Why he did what things he wondered. As if he'd spoken, she said "why he chose to invade and destroy Timber, why he supported President Deling, that monster! Why he kept insisting my mother 's car crash was an accident when he...he..."she stopped herself before going any further. Between them was the knowledge that Laguna( Squall's unacknowledged dad) had once been her mother's lover and because Laguna left Julia one day and never saw her again, Julia took her own life in that 'accident'

He stood up and offered his hand to her. "Come on, let's walk."

"Where?" she stood, wiped her face. "I don't want to go anywhere."

"Well this is the worse place to be grieving. It stinks! And I just can't sit still."

"Look. You have things to do, I understand that. We were supposed to get an early start today!"

Quistis was running up to them. "Glad I caught you! I need to see and talk to you both later on, so whatever you do, hang around so I can find you."

Rinoa sighed. "I'll be in my room..."

Squall said, "come with me to my room, its bigger and i have stuff to do there anyway. If you want to take a nap I'll just keep you company. I don't want you to be alone."

"That's good, Selphie and I have to go to your room anyway Rinoa, pick out some clothes. I've sent Zell to Esther for a dress and accessories. "

"Zell?"

"Squall, you'll be wearing your dress uniform. You'll have two hundred cadets with you as escorts."

"Two hundred?" 

"You'll be walking into a city swarming with military troops. They'd like nothing better than to take you both as hostages or worse. Shoot you both. What a prize you'd make, head of the mercenary seed cadets and the beautiful young sorceress..."

"Two hundred inexperienced mercenary students...are going to be our escorts? And this is supposed to make me feel good?" Squall looked from one woman to the other. 

"This is going to work. I have a plan."

Squall had Rinoa's hand entrenched in his own and he guided her down the wide hall. "You know, I liked your father. That Sorceress battle, the amount of details he put into that plan, he had it worked out completely. Left nothing to chance. It was nice knowing we had someone of his stature to rely on. And it could have worked too, had we been strong enough." They walked past the entrance to the quad and cafeteria. 

"I don't understand any of this." Her voice was slower, seemed tired. "What is Quistis talking about? My dress...Zell is picking it out? And, and these cadets escorting us? Why? Where? Why is the whole ship going? Just take me alone to Deling, to my house where all my clothes are. I can make it from there. I don't want all of you taking such a risk for me."

They reached the corridor leading to the dorms. Through the glass the early morning sun seemed too bright and sharp. Too inergetic. There wasn't even a cloud to mar the perfect blue of the sky.

He opened the door to his room and motioned for her to go in ahead of him,

"Your father was important.. to the Galbadians yes of course, to us because we knew him briefly. But also because he's your Dad and you're important to us. Important as a friend and supporter, but also you're the Sorceress! The only one left now." He guided her to the edge of the bed and motioned for her to sit down. He unfolded his extra blanket and gently covered her. He took her legs and swung them over then he sat and studied her face. "Can I get you something? From the cafeteria. How about that hot tea you were having and never got to finishing..."

"Stop!" She struggled to sit up. "This started out to be a normal day. A little earlier than I'm used to be...Then I'm handed a letter. I thought is must be a mistake. Probably for one of you, Quistis or you. But I opened it anyway. 

Now everything is upside down! I'm not me anymore!" She was talking faster now: "And no one else is who they seem. Quistis is running a circus show ...Zell! He's shopping for me, buying me dresses and shoes and handbags. And you! All I ever wanted from you was a little attention ,to make me think you liked me a little. Tell me what am I doing here?"

"Rinoa, the luxury of knowing where you were...are...for the next couple of hours. And just, to try to comfort you a little. I just didn't want you to be alone. Not at a time like this. Think you can sleep? I was just going to clean and polish my shoes for tonight." Her eyes looked past him and were dull, tired.

She watched him as he took one shoe off , reached for a cloth inside the lamp table drawer and rubbed the cloth against the black leather surface. She was right, he decided, rubbing and polishing the sides and back with a steady back and forth motion. Nothing was as it seemed. They would be going into Deling City, capitol of Galbadia. And headquarters for the military. Normally there were troops there, but tonight? What a trap! If they knew we were on our way Do they imagine the general's daughter would be coming alone? They must be frantically looking for her. But if they guessed she'd be bringing almost the entire student body of seed mercenaries...would they be watching train stations and other roads? How did Quistis plan to pull this off? Rinoa has to be there, has to say goodbye to her father. 

"What are you thinking?" Rinoa slowly laid back down pulling the blanket around her.

"The future." He leaned over for the other shoe he'd kicked off and began brushing that one the same as the other. He looked at her, closing her large dark eyes, and said, "there will be a future, it may not seem so right now. But every minute hour day week the pain grows less." I know from personal experience, he thought and looked over at her. She was asleep. Later,

The door brushed open and Quistis motioned Squall into the hall. Quietly she closed the door.

Her hair looked dissheveled, wisps of blond hair escaping the ribbon she's used to tie her hair back. But her voice was as calm and quiet as it was this morning. 

"Zell is on the way back with the Ragnorok. I'll bring the stuff over here...let her use your shower, a nice luxury after those communal ones the girls have. 

"Selphie and Irv are attending to the cadets who will be escorts. This ship is almost at the outskirts of Deling. We'll use the Ragnorok as our transport and land at the archway, the one we used to drop the gates on Sorceress Edea. Its just a short walk through the park to the presidential palace. There'll be news coverage the minute the Rag lands to where you enter the palace grounds. It'll be impressive, the uniforms, the slow steady march, you two sandwiched between them, no talking or noise of any kind. Every movement solemn ceremonial. The Galbadian officers would not risk public disapproval by provoking an attack upon these young students who're just showing respect for one of their own officers."

"This is the plan?" Squall studied her face.

"Yes this is the plan but..."

"Its a beautiful plan. It won't work."

"Well, as it stands so far, no."

"Ok, you got us inside. Now, how do we get out?"

"Remember, Rinoa is the star of the show. She'll stand out with the black dress stockings and shoes...Her face is already puffy, ravaged. You know how waif-like whe looks when she cries. And young. She'll say some words about her father. The crowd will be hanging onto to every word . The reporters will be falling all over themselves trying to cover the story. The military won't dare antagonize the civilian population. When it's finally over..."

"That's fiction!"

"Yes but..."

"Spray toxic powder from the air as the Rag circles the city. Make it sleeping gas if you like. When everyone begins dropping, Rinoa and I will walk through that park up to where the ceremony is to take place, let Rinoa see her Dad and say goodbye and then get the hell out of there!"

"Brutish! I'm just looking for some p&r for the Garden, let parents see how good we look and act, they'll be rushing our doors to enroll their kids. We need new blood all the time. The news media will go crazy over all the pomp and circumstance." Quistis rocked on her heels, smug.

"And we'll be dead. How's that going to look to the parents trying to find an intelligent school to send their kids."

"Squall, have a little faith. I won't let that happen. As soon as we land..."

"Crestin Marshal, Kllp reporting on some breaking news. We have live pictures of something extraordinary happening! Along the parkway towards the presidential palace there appear to be an orderly file of over a hundred young cadets escorting their leader and a young woman in black. There was a great deal of speculation whether General Caraway's family would be represented here today and this looks like the answer. It could be Caraway's daughter, though there was little information released of whether she could attend these services..."

The double column in the rapidly darkening twilight walked noiselessly if somewhat nervously, not daring to look left or right but sensing the enemy soldiers hovering nearby. Rinoa wore her dress with its snug waist and flared skirt, its black silk as light as gossamer that flared in the breeze with every step she took. Squall liked the way she held her head up and paid attention to nothing but the crowd ahead of them, her eyes dark and serious. He looked at everything, at every body position, every movement around him. The soldiers' presence wasn't obvious to him yet. He thought he would hear their guffaws as Squall and company walked into their trap.

They reached the front of the palace and the crowds moved aside out of curiousity, to see what the parade of cadets would do next. As the students drew to a stop in front of the roped off area by the steps, Squall took the first of several discs from his uniform pocket, snapped it open activating a tiny red beam of light and threw it in front of his escorts. He then took Rinoa's arm and guided her up the makeshift stairs to the platform loaded with microphones. When she was in position in front of the lantern and directly in front of the mikes, he drew out a slightly larger disc and activated that, placing it in front of Rinoa. No one attempted to stop them. Squall thought, I'll bet each of us thinks this is too easy. Wonder which of us will be right.

The last time Squall looked down at the crowd they were there to kill Sorceress Edea. They failed that night. The murmering of the crowd had been subdued but now there were a sudden increase of voices.

From out of the inner curtains a tall, older man, wearing the bars of a general on his uniform came toward them. 

"Rinoa Carraway! How good to see you. We were afraid you might not make it here. It was difficult trying to reach you."

Rinoa made no movement toward him, her dark eyes miles away. 

Just then the crowd began to swell forward , the voices angry and high pitched. Other Galbadians moved in front of them pushing them back.

Squall nodded to his cadets thankful they were paying attention. The murmering voices continued to increase. Or is it the buzzing in my head, Squall wondered as he turned for Rinoa. She was leaning toward the microphones and it seemed she was saying something but the noise level was too high for one female voice to be heard. Gradually the noise decreased as they strained to hear what she was saying. 

"Dad I'm here. Because I wanted to be here for you. There are so many things I want to say. I thought there'd be lots of time, Dad. But time ran out, even as it is now. I love you. You were part of my life and now that you're gone, part of me is gone too. Nothing will ever be the same."

The soldiers moving the crowd were rapidly replaced by Galbadian sharp-shooters. These men knelt on one knee positioning their rifles and clicking them in preparation for immediate firing. Squall heard from the side of him a keening sound and turned to see Rinoa's face contourting with rage. His heart missed a beat and he almost choked on his own spit. This was not part of the plan. Damn!

They never really filled Rinoa in on the plan! They were so concerned for her. They tried everything they could think of to make it easy for her, to spare her. Till finally, they stopped thinking of her altogether. We're safe Rinoa, don't do anything. We're covered by the halograms, Squall pleaded silently.

Ground leaves and dirt suddenly began to swirl, blowing into the faces of the sharp-shooters and flakes began falling from the sky. Not at all lightly either as Selphie noted in Trabia when she called them gifts from the faeries. The white flakes quickly grew thicker as the air became colder and the breeze increased in intensity, moaning becoming more furious. The townpeople dispursed frantically in every direction. The soldiers tried to stay in place but the wind and sleet and blowing debris make it impossible to see which direction to point their rifles. Around Squall the air was still and warm as it had been. Rinoa's face angrier than he'd ever seen her stood in place, the black silk lashing against her, her hair blowing in her face and she continued to send her magic furiously first one then another, the wind the snow the cold each one more fierce, more intense than the one before. From what Squall could see before him, the soldiers too began reclaiming their legs and dispersing in different directions, oblivious to their careers, interested only in their own survival. When the last of them left, when the world before them swirled and writhed in fury, Squall turned toward Rinoa only to discover she was inside the room, beside the casket of her Dad. Her fingers tucked the white satin of the bier, pinched a rose from the cascade over the half shut lid, placed the rose in his hands that were folded and still. She kissed her fingers and placed them against her father's cheek. Only then did she look up at Squall who stood by her side. She smiled. "Lets go."

He took her arm and they walked to the stairs. The storm was gone as if it had never been, no grass was bent and frozed, no tree branches compromised and definitely, no piles of snow and ice to wade through. Nor were there soldiers or townpeople Just the peaceful quiet night, the perfect night for a stroll through a park on the way home.

  


.


End file.
